Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

It's official! I am now an American, who is a permanent resident legally living in Canada sponsored by my Canadian spouse who's obligation, financially speaking, ends in 3 years! Confusing, eh? (Look at that... eh's slipping in left and right!) Let me explain in simple terms what this means:

I am no longer under the "temporary work permit" category.

As such, I can work any place I want.

Permanent Residency, aside from the card itself, does not expire.

I can get a normal SIN number (social insurance number).

I have full rights minus voting~

I will always have health insurance regardless of my job status (*cough*wakeupAmerica*cough*)

It is a huge weight off of my shoulders. One less thing for me to worry about. I can now go and get my SIN, wait for my actual Permanent Residency card, and finish switching to my married name. This makes me very happy!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Today marks exactly 30 days to go until we close on the house. Exciting, scary, etc. So far it has been a wonderful experience. Randomly finding the site location, DREAMING that we could possibly build one of the gorgeous houses (honestly, we would tell each other to stop looking at the Doon Creek website because there was no way we could do it!), actually signing the papers, and meeting with our WONDERFUL designer, Nikki. She made a world of difference. Our house wouldn't be half as nice as it is without her expert help!

There is a lot left to do at The House. Of course, I am worrying about it but Ian is as cool as a cucumber. I'm sure almost everything will get done. 30 days is going to pass by so quickly!!

Friday, June 24, 2011

We went with Ian's parents on a camping trip last fall and saw a bunch of campsites that had signs posted - "The Wilkersons", "Ted & Judy Camp Here", etc. So for Christmas, as a bit of a joke, I had a custom sign made for them. They call the RV their "cottage". It was made in California and sent to my mom's house (my family would remember it as the billboard that got delivered!). The size was a little.... larger than I was anticipating but as you can see below... I think it looks pretty nice!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Thursday, June 16, 2011

I'm really looking forward to decorating. I don't normally feel like it... but the house will feel permanent.... MINE. I want to make it my own pretty quickly. Back in May I was looking for items to distract me while Ian was running around Vegas. The Pottery Barn store in Toronto was having a Benjamin Moore Color Seminar. Unfortunately, the class was full when I tried to register, but they offered up a 1:1 session with a design consultant. I met with them and came away with some brilliant ideas.

One of them is for the Master Bedroom. We need to get a new bed and I've fallen in love with this one.

The design consultant picked out a fabric for the bed and paint colors that match our sheets (below).

I fell in love with it immediately. It matches our bedroom set. Here is the combination of colors and bed fabric. The blue will go on the wall behind the bed and then the tan color will be the other walls.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

I haven't blagged since last Wednesday. It feels like a lifetime ago... My days are filled with talking to people.. contractors.. sales people.. about fixing issues.. and scheduling appointments.. and planning.. always... always planning. Such is life when you buy a house.

My head is FULL. The first 3 days in the house are almost back to back with appointments - AC install, Appliance delivery and installation, Cable/Internet/Phone setup, etc. As much as I am organized... I still worry (honestly, who would I be if I didn't worry so much?). I feel like I'm going to miss something and I probably will. That drives me crazy!

We had our kitchen walk-through on Saturday. We weren't expecting it but apparently our builder now completes a walk-through of the kitchen once it's finished. Of course, we had been through the kitchen many, many times before. But it was nice to walk through it with a builder rep. We knew of the little issues (spice drawer missing, pullout shelves misplaced, etc). It becomes more real every day... we will OWN a building! Crazy. Here is the latest shot of the house... complete with sidewalk!

Immigration Update! After receiving a notice that Ian was approved to be my sponsor, I got a letter stating that I was approved. It is pending an interview in Kitchener but the ball is rolling very quickly. The implications it has on the house will probably not change. We've planned for the purchase to go through without my permanent residency for so long... it will be smart to move forward as is. At the very least, the pressure is off our shoulders. We also got the green light from the mortgage company. Now we just need to play the waiting game.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Monday, June 6, 2011

We have a surprising number of items to buy. I have many, many lists created to handle it all. This weekend I created a list for Bed Bath and Beyond. One of the ways I am keeping it straight is putting the items on a registry for BBB. It's really a wish list of all the things we need or want to get for the house. NO, we are not having a Housewarming party. I just had to label the registry something... and 'Commitment Ceremony', 'University' or 'Retirement' didn't really seem to fit!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Some days it feels like time is standing still... and then there are weeks that speed by. This week we gave notice to our apartment that we're moving out. The cable company called and reminded me that we get a year free of service (home phone, internet and cable - yes, I'm ecstatic~) and I set up the installation appointment. Ian and I used one of our drives home to discuss how moving will work. And our future neighbor, Alicia, let us know that our garage was being painted! We headed over to the house and saw this!

The dark brown actually looks pretty good... obviously it's not done yet. I think with a few more coats it will look great! Anyway, overwhelmed but surprisingly okay...

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

With less than 2 months to go, I'm a bit of wreck but only inside my head. A few things are keeping me sane... caffeine, the fact that I'm mostly packed, and lots of lists. This list in particular is helpful - my countdown To Do List.